Popularity is a Curse
by Super Secret Squirrel
Summary: Ron Stoppable reflects on a life changing event during senior year of high school. Oneshot.


A/N: I wrote this for an essay about how an experience could change a person's life for the good for school, but for this I changed my characters to Kim and Ron. I own the essay in society. True love, not teenagers trying to be cool, or "I love you because I need you," but not Kim or Ron. For the record, Kim is not a teen hero and she and Ron aren't friends.

Popularity. It's the biggest curse in all of high school. It separates the "cool" from the "un-cool", giving intelligence, work ethic, kindness, and true love absolutely no place in society. True love, not teenagers trying to be cool, or "I love you because I need you," but, "I need you because I love you." In school I lie under the bottom rung on the social ladder, while she, Kim Possible, stands on top. I don't think she even knows who I am, but a guy can dream, right?

That is exactly what I thought ten years ago, but I am now twenty-six and popularity is not part of my or my wife's vocabulary, at least until our three-year old gets to that stage, but that's not the point. The point is that nothing is as it seems, and the social ladder of high school is very old and held together with, not glue or staples, but tape and can drop anybody any distance and not even put up a fight to stop, much less slow their fall. Miss Possible found that out the hard way, only to be caught at the bottom by me.

"Hey, Ron," my best friend Joey said, "Armageddon has come!" "Joey, what are you talking about?" "Kim Possible didn't make the cheerleading team!" "Okay, and that's...bad?" "Hello, Kim Possible, cheerleading captain as a freshman, now a senior, and kicked off the team." "Ok, Joey, I'm still not catching your drift." "Whatever," he said and left. Joey and I usually didn't hang around with each other because he was the starting quarterback for the Varsity football team, but we had been friends since kindergarten, and we weren't going to let football get in the way of our friendship.

After the final bell rang, I was walking in the foyer of the school and I saw Kim sitting at one of the tables in the cafeteria just staring into the food lines. "The food doesn't make itself, either you have to make it or wait till tomorrow for the lunch ladies to make it. Meanwhile, here's a buck go buy some chips or candy." After saying that I got a laugh and look saying, "I need someone to talk to." I walked over and sat down by her and said, "You probably don't know who I am, but I know who you are and I heard what happened at tryouts— "Ron Stoppable, I know who you are, and I don't want people to feel sorry for me because I didn't make the team, I want somebody to be my friend because of me, not because I'm a cheerleader." "I hear you, and I want people to take the time to get to know me, before they look at what everybody else sees on the outside." "I feel the same way. Ron, can I tell you something?" "Sure, go ahead." "I didn't make the team because I didn't want to, not because I couldn't." "You're joking, right?" "No, I wanted to see who my real friends were, and I wanted to finish high school completely under the radar and off the ladder. I also, would like a boyfriend that loves me, not my body or standing in society." "I can give you two out of three." "Oh, well, it sure is nice to dream." "I agree, not even I could go completely under the radar." "So, you're saying, I can?" "How could a girl as beautiful as you go unnoticed in a school of two thousand or more?" "Thank you, but can you name one guy in this school looks on the inside with more significance than the outside." "I can only name one, and his name...Ron Stoppable." "That is the only answer I would have accepted." "Friday night, eight o'clock, some place nice?" "You name it, I'll love it." "Bueno Nacho sound good? I'm a little low on funds." "I'd love to." "Great, I'll pick you up Friday at eight." "Okay." "Bye." "Bye, and Ron," "Yeah?" "Thanks." "No problem."

That was our first date, and we have yet to have our last. The experience of my first true love had an incredible impact for the good on both of our lives. It also made me realize your outlook on life can change in an instant, from being an eternity away, to walking down the road of life together.

The End.


End file.
